The Expelled, Oblivious Strongest Boy Saves an S-Rank Beautiful Female Adventurer and Unknowingly Forms a Harem - 22

Chapter 22: Liam, Not Going to Lose

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“Wa—…. Wa-Wait!! I didn’t know Liam’s companion is THE S-rank adventurer, Lydia Astoria! I wasn’t trying to offend you or anything—!”

“Regardless of what your intentions were, the fact that you tried to assault Liam-san remains unchanged. That fact alone is enough for me to view you as an enemy.”

“…!! Damn it!! There’s no way I’m fighting against someone like her! Everyone! We’re retreating! Let’s go!!”

Zayn-san yelled to his party members and Bella-san and the rest of the party members nodded in unison. They started running away with Zayn-san, but… Lydia-san immediately blocked their path. It was hard to tell if she did this out of her duty as a knight or pure anger, but she had a very terrifying expression on her face as she said. 

“Do you really think I will let you escape?”

“You…!!”

“Za-Zayn, what should we do?”

“We’re in deep shit!”

“Shut up! I’m thinking right now!”

Zayn-san said so, looking obviously flustered. Sweat was running down his face and he looked a bit paler than usual. 

“I won’t give you the time to think… I’ll make sure you will regret ever raising your fist against Liam-san for the rest of your life.”

“Tch…! Since it has come to this… We have no other choice! We need to fight this Lydia Astoria! It’s alright, there are only two of them and there are three of us! We should be able to win if we play our cards right!”

“Ye-Yeah…!”

“Sounds like a plan! But… How?”

“You two will fight Lydia Astoria together to buy us some time and I will take on Liam while thinking of our next plan. Don’t worry! The two of you are A-rank adventurers! Two A-rank adventurers should be able to stand on equal ground against one S-rank adventurer!”

“Ye-Yeah! I guess you’re right!”

“We… We can do it…! We can do it!!”

Zayn-san’s speech was enough to make his party members with renewed determination. The color finally returned to Zayn-san’s pale face. Just like that, Bella-san and one male adventurer stood against Lydia-san while Zayn-san stood in front of me. 

“Liam… This time… I’m going to punch you for real!!”

I really didn’t like to fight, let alone hurt other people, but…

“Me too! I’m not going to lose against you, Zayn-san!”

And with that, Zayn-san and I closed the distance between us. The fight had begun. 

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Facing against two of Zayn-san’s party members, Lydia sighed, seemingly exasperated. 

“This is truly beyond my wildest expectations. I really didn’t expect you to really think you can hold me off with just the two of you…”

“Ju-Just so you know, we’re both A-rank adventurers! We’re not just some small fries!”

“Come to think of it, I know you’ve said something similar earlier, but… Are you guys really A-rank adventurers? All three of you?”

“Wha-What do you mean?”

Bella asked, her voice was quivering. Lydia calmly said. 

“You see, I’ve seen several A-rank adventurers. You guys are not the first A-rank adventurers I’ve encountered, but… All of them are so much stronger than you.”

“Do-Don’t underestimate us! I-I mean, we haven’t even shown you our true strength yet, so how can you say that so confidently?!”

“Well, that statement alone speaks volumes. Once you reach a certain level of power, you can gauge their strength just by looking at them. Well, there’s an exception though. It’s hard to gauge the strength of exceptionally outstanding individuals.”

Lydia couldn’t see how powerful Liam actually was when they first met, especially because Lydia was on the brink of death at that time. But the fact still remained. She wasn’t capable of gauging Liam’s true strength. After all, a measuring stick could only measure up to its own length. A measuring stick couldn’t measure anything beyond its own length.

“If I may be honest… You guys should be in D-rank… No, maybe E-rank and I’m being very generous here. You guys are barely scratching the very bottom of adventurers.”

“Wha—! Listen here, I don’t care if you’re an S-rank adventurer or whatever, but don’t you dare underestimate us! Let’s go, Bella!”

With that, two of Zayn-san’s party members concentrated all of the magic power they had into their hands and then… 

“Take this!!”

They shouted, shooting fire magic at Lydia in unison. This fireball was created with all of their magic power. The strongest and most powerful fireball they could muster. 

“Good grief… Just how foolish you guys can be…? I have so many things I want to ask, but… Remember, it was you who attacked me first. Let me say this once more… Prepare yourselves.”

“Hii…!!”

Hearing Lydia’s sharp remark, one of Zayn’s party members let out a terrified cry, but the deed had been made. The flames they had cast were effortlessly avoided by Lydia and Lydia swiftly appeared behind the two of them, knocking them out in an instant. 

“For me to swing my sword for people like them… But, this is for Liam-san’s sake. Ah… I wonder how Liam-san is faring.”

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While easily catching Zayn-san’s punch, I asked him the question that had been bugging me since the start of our fight. 

“Zayn-san, you’re fighting seriously, right…?”

“Huh?! Of course I am! What’s with that question?!”

“I see… But… But Zayn-san, why are you coming at me with such weak power? I just can’t understand it… Are you sure you’re not holding yourself back because you don’t want to hurt me?”

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